Sunday Drive: Mercedes-AMG E 53 coupe

Friday, 17 May 2019

Does the E 53 bring a new age of softer, more caring AMGs?

**MERCEDES-AMG E 53 COUPE

Base price:** $180,200

Powertrain and performance: 3.0-litre turbo-petrol inline 6, 320kW/520Nm, 9-speed automatic, AWD, Combined economy 8.8 litres per 100km.

Very subtle for an AMG, but the E 53 coupe is still a handsome car.

Vital statistics: 4826mm long, 1430mm high, 2873mm wheelbase, luggage capacity 425 litres, 20-inch alloy wheels with 245/35 **tyres front, 275/30 rear.

We like:** That it has punch yet also offers potential for parsimony. Magnificent engineering quality.

A hybrid powertrain with an AMG twist - the 48-volt system adds a further 15kW to the turbo six's 320kW.

We don't like: Struggles to be emotionally involving. Coupe drawbacks.

Perhaps in time we will recall the E 53 Coupe as being the first of a new breed of saner, yet still barking, AMG products. Even though the hybrid engine might be working hard to prove itself at emotional level, there's no doubt it had to come: the days of big, fuel-hungry engines are numbered.

It's big, but the E 53 still suffers from traditional coupe drawbacks.

You know why. Increasingly stringent legislative expectation of lower emissions and improved fuel burns cannot be avoided. Big Oil is also ending. Plan B isn't a search for Planet Petrol.

So, while you can get your AMG fix in many different forms nowadays, the arrival of an electrified 3.0-litre engine with twin turbocharging, though different, is a hardly unexpected. Nor is it entirely new - what we get now is really is actually a progression from the E 43 it bumps off, mainly through upping to 48-volt hybrid cleverness, known as EQ Boost.

Not so subtle on the inside, but it still packs a lot of tech.

The sleek profile of a Mercedes coupe is instantly recognisable.

* Think AMG is all about big V8s? Think again.

* AMG charges up the inline six**

This operates a selection of modern electrical accoutrements, including an electric supercharger working with the turbocharger, but never enacting so directly that the car is at any point operating under battery impetus alone.

Yet, while no threat to a Tesla, this also has potential to be the kind of AMG that won't necessarily be celebrated by fuel barons, either.

The engine nominally makes 320kW while there's an extra 15kW offered by the EQ system, so clearly it has wallop. Yet by using the efficiency of a hybrid solution, it also offers opportunity of achieving something past AMGs just didn't bother with: effective efficiency, proven on a 140km drive during which the instant readings dropped to family hatch equivalence.

The key to achieving really impressive economy comes from using a function whose provision will seem foreign to long-term brand fans. Something called an Eco setting.

Too weird for you? Turning the dial in opposite direction delivers a cosy amount of heat, more than enough to blow Greenie stuff into the weeds. In the sportiest mode it becomes a beast, laying down 0-100kmh in 4.4 seconds and only constrained by a 260kmh speed limiter.

Channelled via an unflappable nine-speed automatic gearbox, power delivery is as responsive as it is smooth, with little in the way of turbo lag, and in the mid-range it's simply devastating. Like the majority of the current Mercedes-AMG range, it sends power to all four wheels, with a 69 per cent rearward bias, so there's no shortage of grip.

As scintillating as it seems, the car doesn't outshine the V8s that largely fuel AMG ambition here. A crunchy fanfare of pops and crackles delivered on the overrun are sinful, yet it's less bombastic in tune and tone and less prone to foist 'Mein Gott' moments when gunned.

Apart from not being quite feral enough, the focus on indulgence, its weight and sheer size deny it thoroughbred elan. Even when fully firmed, it's still leaning in corners and the steering is not quite sharp enough.

It's ultimately better, in fact, to dial the drive control back. This takes the brittleness out of the ride – yes, even though it runs on super-sized rims - and allows you to better appreciate the front seats' exceptional comfort.

The luxury impression is fulsome. Material quality and fit and finish are at the top of the class and while dashboard design is dated enough to seem a big step behind Benz's latest widescreen formats and MBUX smarts, there's plenty of inviting and relevant tech.

The sharpest tools are invested in safety – there's a long list of impact-reduction technology in case the worst should happen – and crash avoidance driver assists.

The car's ability to self-navigate down roads using a huge array of smarts – the sat nav, limited (in that it times out and requests hands returned to the wheel after around seven seconds) self-steer, smart cruise control and the computer's ability to read speed signs - is amazing cleverness, but can also be frustratingly cautious.

AMG cars rarely show as much restraint in their exterior styling as this one. While there are a host of touches to differentiate from plebeian E-class models, it isn't overly aggressive, including taking a less outrageous twin-blade grille.

Of course, being a Coupe means it still serves to a very select audience. With a 425-litre boot and decent rear seating space (though the usual tricky entry and exit), this model at least adds more practicality to the panache, but you know it'll be even less considered than the drivetrain it debuts.